Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (26 page)

The look on his face said it all.

Turning, she started out. “Tomorrow, we’ll be using the conference room. If you want in on this, and plan to help out, lose this jackassery and tomfoolery in here. It makes you look like a pubescent kid, not the sheriff of the town. Inflatable anything, and half-naked women, aren’t for the workplace. In fact, they’re questionable anywhere but a frat house.”

She headed out, the men in her life behind her. Outside, she started for the morgue.

“Sometimes, you need to dish out tough love,” Callen reassured, knowing that she hated every second of what she had just done.

Elizabeth
despised being mean to Tony. She had a soft spot for him in her heart, but he needed to man up and take care of the business that was tied to the badge.

“Yeah, I know
,” she answered.

“He’ll thank you one day.”

Oddly, Elizabeth didn't give a rat’s ass one way or the other. She didn't picture him in law enforcement all that long, especially with what they believed was coming.

Bad shit was brewing
. She could smell the stench a mile away.

Inside the morgue lab, the tech team was making itself at home and doing what it did best. They were beginning to analyze the bones and strip of
f the remaining flesh found on the last retrieval. It was a gross job, but their team wasn’t afraid of a little ick factor.

In fact, they thrived on it.

The tempo was upbeat and everyone was handling exactly what they were supposed to be doing.

At least that could offer Elizabeth a little reassurance. She could trust her team to take care of business
and not need a full time babysitter. If there was an issue, Elizabeth could have faith in the man who was in charge of them. Doctor Leonard was a professional, and that she appreciated.

Once they were noticed
standing there, Chris, who was working with Doc’s assistant, motioned for them to head his way. The files that he was going through were still in process, but he could give them a little update.

“What do you have,
Doctor Leonard?” Ethan asked, as he was working on something on his phone.

“Well,
there’s nothing on any of the ME’s files yet. I asked for Harry’s help, and he has been invaluable to the process.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth said,
shifting her focus from her ME to the man beside him. “Did Sheriff Morell schedule an appointment with you to talk about Doc?” she asked.

The man nodded. “
It’s set up for eight tomorrow morning at the station.”

Elizabeth thought about it
, and that wasn’t good enough for her. “How about you give us what you know now? Then when you sit with Tony tomorrow, it may rattle anything free that may be cloudy.”

He was good with that. “Sure thing, Director. I’ll do anything I can to help out. Doc is a great guy
, and we want to see him come home.”

Yeah, she was well aware.
The man who helped raise her was indeed, a very special person.

Callen took over, trying to offer her a moment
to regroup. This had to be tripping her up. His woman was tough, but not when it came to matters of the heart. Then, she was a puddle of mush.

“Tell us about the night before. Who was the last person to see him?”

Harry thought about it. “I guess that was me. I was working late to clean up all the tools and get everything set up. We had just worked on a body, and he was looking a little tired and worn down. I asked him if he was feeling okay, and he said he was just getting old and time was taking its toll.”

Callen made notes in his tablet, so Elizabeth could remain focused on his words.
From the look on her face, he could see that even talking about Doc was hard on her. Obviously, she suspected the worst.

“He was working
at the table on a couple of files. I’m guessing they were the ones with just the bones. He was all stirred up over them. Mostly, Doc was pretty laid back, but if you wanted to see him get frazzled, throw him a mystery that he couldn’t solve. It became an obsession for him. I don’t think he even ate lunch.”

Elizabeth
listened to what the man was saying, and at the same time, she was taking in the tech in front of her. He reminded her of some goth college kid. The guy had more holes in his ears than anyone she had ever met before in her life. As for tattoos, he made Ethan’s twenty four and Callen’s ten look paltry. If she had to stereotype the person who she thought would work in the morgue, Harry would definitely fit the visual bouncing around in her brain. It was exact, right down to his coffin ring and vampire like shoes.

“Did he say anything?” she asked.

“He mumbled a lot and had his magnifying glass in his hand. He was studying those bones for hours a day. I wish I could tell you what he saw, but he wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. All I know is that he called the sheriff and was freaked out.”

Yeah,
if there was any doubt before, Elizabeth was ready to let it go. Those bones had to have something to do with Doc going missing. The man was sharp as a whip and never let anything slip by him. For now, they needed to focus on what they knew. The truth was hidden in those remains.

“When I was leaving, I offered to run over to the new café and grab him some dinner. I was worried about him
. He reminds me of my grandpa, only much cooler. Doc was precise when it came to his schedule, until those remains were brought in. Since that day, he was stirred up like a hive of wasps being poked with a pitchfork.”

“What did he say when you offered to get him dinner?
”

“He wasn’t interested. Doc said he was going home to do some online research on the bones
, and he promised to grab something to eat later. It’s just that…”

“What?” she asked, needing everything that she could get to help find Doc.

“He didn't sound right. I’m telling you that it was a cross between bewilderment and horror.”

Ethan
picked up, “What about the sheriff? Did he get to talk to him?” He wanted to corroborate Tony’s statement. Not that he thought that he hurt the man, but all the bases had to be covered when you were running an investigation.

“Doc called Tony a few times the day before he disappeared.
Again, it was all because of those bones. I think he wanted the missing person reports, and was getting angry that Tony wasn’t in contact with him.”

Chris interjected, “I found notations in his files that suggested he was investigating the victims
as his next step in finding their identity.”

Callen kept making notes.

“I’ll have questions for you next, Chris,” she stated. “I’ll need to know what’s in those files, deeper than I was able to see on the surface.”

He nodded.

“Okay, Harry. What about the day that he didn't show up for work? Walk me through that timeframe, and help me understand why no one noticed a seventy year old man was missing.”

Harry felt bad
about that. “When he didn't show up, I was worried. Doc Trudeaux had mentioned fishing the other day, and how he really wanted to take some downtime when he was done with the bones. I just assumed he wrapped it up last night. I called his house, and no one answered. I should have gone over there, but I was next in charge of the morgue when he’s out. I had to release bodies and get some paperwork done that Doc had forgotten about.”

“When did Tony come in?” she asked, buying his
explanation. Elizabeth knew Doc loved to fish, and she would have made the same assumptions had it been her call.

“He showed up just as I was getting ready for the day, so I’m going to say just after eight in the morning. He mentioned that Doc had called him
and that he was looking for him.”

Elizabeth was happy with what he told her. Harry
Fillmore just gave them a starting point. At least they knew what Doc was focused on. Now, it was up to her team to find the trail.

“Chris, tell me about those files
and give me everything that you can.”

He took his glasses off and stared in her eyes.
“Doctor Trudeaux was meticulous and if anything, compulsive with his notes. His files actually put mine to shame. The man took pride in his work and left us enough information.”

“Like?” Ethan asked.

“He made notes that he was looking at the markings on the bones, not the bones themselves. That’s what had him perplexed. I also found page numbers referenced, and when I opened the book that was in his briefcase, it was explaining the density and markings that certain tools would make in the surface of the bones.”

Tony Magnus spoke, “That’s where I’m at
, right now. When you’re done with Chris, I’ll tell you what I found.”

Elizabeth nodded. “How about the other cases he was working on?”

“They look normal so far. I’ll be done tomorrow with all of them. I can tell you that he didn't like guessing. The man was based in hard fact, and that I can appreciate.”

“You would have liked him,” she said. “You remind me of him, and that’s why we probably get along
so well. I was used to the way he ran his morgue,” she stated softly, as the emotion filled her voice.

“You believe he’s dead,
” Chris said, feeling nothing but the utmost in sympathy for Elizabeth. The family had taken a few hits lately, and it appeared that they were still coming.

She stared at her
friend and tried to rationalize it. “Where you and Tony need logic, I am a big believer in my gut and instinct. I’ve been doing this too long to think that he’s going to mosey out of the woods with his pole and a bucket full of fish.”

Ethan and Callen each rested a hand on her shoulders.

“Now, I just need to find out how and why. That’s my focus for this moment.”

“I think I can tell you that,” Doctor Magnus offered. “I can give you the how these people met their end.”

That had everyone’s attention.

“Tell us what you have, Tony.”

When they had first come into the morgue, he had a show and tell planned to explain the methods that the killer had taken the victim’s lives. Then, he heard the pain and saw the sadness in Elizabeth’s eyes. This wasn’t the time or place for any of their morgue room antics. For a friend, he would cut her a break and protect her heart.

“Here are the femur bones.” On the table were six bones, laid together in pairs.

“Are they sets?” Callen asked, pointing.

“Yeah, they are. I can tell by the measurements
and the density of the bones. These victims were relatively the same age and height. I conclude that they are indeed matching sets.”

She nodded, saying nothing.

“If you look here,” he pulled out his magnifying glass and pointed with his finger. “You can see cuff marks, or cuts, in the surface of the bone.”

“Okay,” Ethan said.

“This wasn’t made from bones banging together in the swirling water. The femur is one of the strongest bones in the body. As you can see on this one, there is slight remodeling. I’d say a fracture, not a break, since pins were never used surgically to repair it.”

The
y still waited.

“So, I used the book that Doctor Trudeaux was using, and
I can say that the man was close to figuring it out. He was a tiny bit off, since he probably isn’t used to the same kind of killings that we are.”

“What did he assume had happened?” she asked, looking back and forth between her doctors.”

Chris interceded, “Harry, can you give us a moment?” he asked, dismissing the lab assistant and the techs in the room. “Everyone take a ten minute break outside.”

Elizabeth knew it was about to be bad. When the doctors in the lab were shuffling everyone out, it was going to be gut wrenching
, and she suspected it was going to be aimed at her. This was very reminiscent of something that a friend would do to protect another, in case there was a cry fest on the horizon.

Well shit. She braced for it.

“I can take it, guys,” Elizabeth said, even as Ethan stepped closer, so that her body was pressed to his.

“At first,” continued Doctor Magnus, “Doc thought they were from bones
slamming into each other, but then he realized that the lines were too symmetrical and perfect. So, he then began leaning towards a saw, which is a natural progression in the thought process.”

“So, the perp killed the people and sawed them apart?” She wasn’t getting why they cleared a room for that.
Elizabeth could rattle off a few cases a year in her head where they dealt with dismembered bodies.

“It wasn’t a saw.”

“Okay, then what was it?” she asked, getting a tad bit impatient. Elizabeth didn't like how her gut was churning and her nerves were shot.

“It’s a cleaver.”
Tony was trying to be gentle, but this really wasn’t his thing. Sometimes, he came across cold and callous, but he just didn't relate well.